Transhuman and Subhuman Part II: The Hobbit, or The Desolation of Tolkien

“My wife had to stuff a wide handful of popcorn flavored food substitute into my face, in order to smother the broken, wretched burbling — shoot him … with … an elf arrow.” —John C. Wright

Newer blockbusters may have driven the second Hobbit movie from the popular consciousness, but John C. Wright deftly uses The Desolation of Smaug as an object lesson in how even great works can suffer in the hands of artists who don’t understand them.

Wright mentions a scant few grace notes: the majesty of Thranduil’s throne room, the visual perfection of Mirkwood’s canopy filled with black butterflies.

Sadly, Peter Jackson’s bizarre reliance on the stupidity hammer impedes his potentially excellent craftsmanship. From the pure gold of Tolkien’s venerable tale, he forges a hyperactive, incoherent series of video game cinematics tarnished with political correctness.